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Matthew Vella
A new policy on illegal employment and the blacklisting of companies from the government tender list will not be enforced with respect to Zaren Vassallo, the construction developer who was handed a six-month suspended sentence for illegal employment of foreigners, because an incident he was accused and found guilty of happened before the policy was announced.
The new employment policy was announced back in July 2005, which laid down that non-EU nationals would be granted employment only through an employer who registers them on its books with the Employment and Training Corporation, prior to their arrival to Malta and complete with a health insurance cover.
The Ministry for Education and Employment has said the incident involving Vassallo, 53, a major developer on the island, happened on 20 June before the policy was announced.
“The new policies therefore do not apply to this case,” a spokesperson said.
Vassallo was found guilty of not having notified the ETC of the employment of foreign workers by Magistrate Antonio Giovanni Vella, who liberated Vassallo with the condition that he does not commit another offence in six months.
Government had also allowed a one-time amnesty for employers to regulate the situation of any foreign nationals who entered Malta before July 2005, and register their workers with the ETC.
But it had also announced more severe penalties for employers who employ foreign workers illegally, and would be blacklisted from government contracts for three years.
mvella@mediatoday.com.mt
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